EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the sixth in a six-part series profiling the Crawford County Sports Hall of Fame inductees.
NORTH ROBINSON — Chuck Huggins has proudly coached softball at his alma mater, Colonel Crawford, for 28 years.
After graduating from Col. Crawford, Chuck went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Bluffton College and later received a master’s in administration from Ashland University.
During his high school years, he had the pleasure of having fellow hall of fame member, Robert (Mac) Morrison as his high school principal. Over the years, many of Chuck’s teams received their championship medals from Mac, as he was a long-time member of the Northwest District Athletic Board.
A very fond memory for Huggins is the time Mac presented Chuck with his state championship medal. They shook hands, embraced and Mac looked Chuck in the eye, got a big smile on his face and said, ”I want you to know, young man, how much of an honor it is to continually present you and our Colonel Crawford teams with these medals…you keep up the good work!”
Chuck taught three years at Lima City Schools before going back home to the Crawford district where he taught 6th grade math, science and language arts for 32 years. He retired from the classroom in 2013 after 35 years in the teaching profession.
His entire softball head coaching career has been at Colonel Crawford where he’s fashioned a 568-204 overall record. He is in the top five for total wins in Ohio high school softball. His winning percentage is .704. He has had 63 total championships including: 16 conference championships, 25 sectional championships, 14 district championships, 7 regional championships (1993, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2013), 3 state runner-up finishes- (1993, 1999, 2013), and a state championship in 1995.
Other career highlights include being inducted into the OHSFSCA Hall of Fame in June 2004. Winning the “Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity” Award for the OHSAA Northwest District in May 2014 and for winning the same award statewide in May 2014.
The Colonel Crawford community honored Chuck by naming the high school softball field “The Chuck Huggins Field” in September 2007.
From 2007-2010 Chuck had the opportunity to coach his daughter, Natalie, who earned 1st-team All-Ohio Honors in 2009. Chuck and his wife Julie have been married 33 years, and are the proud parents of three children, Chuck, an accountant, Neil a law student, and Natalie, a language arts teacher in the Shelby school system.
